Walkden

Understand

Salford was a market and manufacturing town in Lancashire, with the smaller town of Manchester to its east. Both grew rapidly with the 18th / 19th century textile trade, with Manchester outgrowing Salford, and together they became a major seaport 40 miles inland through the digging of the Manchester Ship Canal. But in the 20th century the UK textile industry collapsed, and the port became derelict as the canal was too small for container ships. In 1974 Salford was transferred from Lancashire to join the new entity of Greater Manchester, and its city boundaries were extended out as far as semi-rural Worsley and Walkden. In 1986 a bold regeneration scheme was launched in the docklands, turning these into a lively modern destination with striking architecture and major attractions. The Quays span the two cities and are therefore detailed separately, with only brief references here. They're two miles west of central Salford, and the problem is that the centre hasn't enjoyed the same investment and political attention, and has had to make do with trickle-down wealth from The Quays. The main reason you'd base yourself here rather than on The Quays is for access to the Victoria-Deansgate strip of downtown Manchester. Since 2020, many Hongkongers fleeing the National Security Law imposed by China have settled in Salford, which has led to it being nicknamed "Little Hong Kong".

Visit Salford tourist information.

Getting there

By plane Manchester Airport (MAN IATA) is ten miles south of Salford. A direct train runs hourly from the airport via Manchester Piccadilly to Salford Central, taking 25 min, and heading for Blackpool. Otherwise take any train to Piccadilly and change.

By train

Trains from towns across northern England stop at 1 Salford Central, and many also stop at 2 Salford Crescent, on their way to Manchester 3 Victoria. This means the service between Salford and Victoria is very frequent, and takes barely 5 min, the previous terrible trains with an interior that looks like a bus have now been confined to history. From London Euston and the Midlands you normally have to travel to Manchester Piccadilly, change for Victoria then change again for Salford. The train is not convenient for Salford Quays, as these are a mile or two west of the centre.

By tram Metrolink trams (orange and blue lines) take 20 min from Manchester Piccadilly via St Peters Square, Deansgate and Cornbrook to Salford Quays and Media City, with the blue line continuing to Eccles. These stops are in Fare Zone 2 so a single journey from city centre is £2.80; trams run every 10 min 6AM-midnight. Eastbound, both lines continue through Piccadilly to Ashton-under-Lyne. Change at one of the central stops for trams to Old Trafford, Stretford, Sale and Altrincham; to Imperial War Museum and Trafford Centre (this line opened in March 2020); to East Didsbury; to Wythenshawe and the airport; and via Victoria to Bury and to Chadderton, Oldham and Rochdale. The tram is not convenient for central Salford, as The Quays are a mile or two west.

By bus National Express Bus NX060 runs hourly from Liverpool to Salford (55 min), continuing via central Manchester to Leeds (another 90 min). Change in Manchester for other routes, eg NX540 from London Victoria.

By car Find your way onto M60, Manchester's orbital motorway, and exit at Jct 12 onto M602 the spur motorway into Salford.

Getting around

Walk is generally the best option, though it's a couple of miles between central Salford and the Quays. Bus services have been cut back in favour of the tram, so areas that aren't on a tram route are cut adrift.

See

See 1 Salford Quays for Lowry Art Gallery and Theatres, Media City, and Imperial War Museum North. 2 Salford Cathedral, 250 Chapel St M3 5LE. Until 1829 the Roman Catholics in England were forbidden to build churches, and faced many other restrictions, so the city's large Irish population was ill-served. The RC Cathedral of St John the Evangelist was completed in 1848 in neo-Gothic but not consecrated until the builders were finally paid in 1890. It's not "oriented"ː "west" where you enter is actually south. It's a light, airy space under a soaring groined vault ceiling. (updated Jan 2020) 3 Salford Museum & Art Gallery, Crescent M5 4WU (200 yards east of Salford Crescent railway station), ☏ +44 161 778-0800. M closed, Tu-F 9ː30AM-4PM, Sa Su 11:30AM-4PM. Rotating exhibitions, permanent collection includes a mock-up Victorian street. Pay & display car parking. Free. (updated Nov 2022) 4 Working Class Movement Library, 50 The Crescent M5 4WX (100 yards south of Crescent railway station). Tu-F 10AM-5PM. In a mock-Tudorbethan building that used to be a nurses' home, this archive and resource documents the seldom-told lives of the cities' working classes, including the Suffragette movement which had its northern powerbase here. Free. (updated Jan 2020) 5 Ordsall Hall, 322 Ordsall Lane M5 3AN, ☏ +44 161 872-0251. M-Th 10AM-4PM, Su 1-4PM. Timber-framed 16th-century mansion with 17th-century brick wings added, and much altered in the 18th century. There's a hoaky legend that Guy Fawkes planned the gunpowder plot here then escaped through a hidden tunnel. (updated Jan 2020) 6 Barton Swing Aqueduct in Eccles is an engineering oddity. A conventional aqueduct carried the Bridgewater Canal across the River Irwell from 1761. Then in the 1890s the river became the Manchester Ship Canal, and the aqueduct was too low for shipping to pass. A lock system would have impeded Bridgewater Canal traffic and wasted water so the solution was this aqueduct that could be swung aside, pivoting

Do

Football: 1 Salford City FC, Moor Lane M7 3PZ, ☏ +44 161 792 6287. "The Ammies" play soccer in League Two, the fourth tier. Their Moor Lane stadium (capacity 5100, and sponsored as "Peninsula Stadium") is two miles north of the centre, take the bus up Bury New Road. But if you came here to make a point of not watching Man United you're in the wrong place, as the club is owned by United's renowned "Class of 92" players. (updated Jan 2020) 2 Manchester United: see Salford Quays for details of Salford's lesser-known club, just south across the river in Old Trafford. Rugby - both versions - is played at 3 Salford Community Stadium (formerly City or AJ Bell Stadium), Eccles M30 7EY, ☏ +44 161 786 1570. This 20,000 capacity stadium is at junction 11 of M60, four miles west of the centre. Salford Red Devils were relegated in 2025 so they play rugby league (13-a-side) in the Championship, the second tier, while the women's team play here in their top tier. The RL playing season is Feb-Sep. Sale Sharks play rugby union (15-a-side) in the Premiership, England's top tier, with a season Sep-April. In 2025 the stadium hosted games in the Women's Rugby Union World Cup. (updated Sep 2025)

Buy

Salford retail park is on Regent Road just west of Campanile Hotel, with a big Sainsbury's. Central convenience stores are Tesco Express next to the station, and Sainsbury's Local on Chapel St by the bridge. Loa